this morning on "early today," wall of destruction. death toll soars in japan as authorities race to head off nuclear meltdowns. shock waves. the situation in japan raises fears over moouk power plants here at home. and whiteout. a late winter blizzard leaves hundreds of motorists stranded in north dakota. captions paid for by nbc-universal television a very good morning to you. today we begin with a country in crisis. in japan, rescuers are searching

for signs of life beneath the rubble as the clock ticks in the wake of friday's epic disaster. japanese police say that they have recovered another 1,000 bodies that washed along the shore adding to a mounting death toll already thought to be above 10,000. nbc's kristen dahlgren joins us with the latest. good morning to you. >> good morning, veronica. there have now been more than 300ç aftershocks registered he. there were new warnings today, and now the possibility of a nuclear accident. with heavy equipment and bare hands, rescue workers continue the desperate search for survivors. virtually every piece of debris that's moved away reveals an increasingly grim scene. >> translator: my relatives and friends are missing after the tsunami destroyed the village. they were all washed away. >> reporter: in one area reports of some 2,000 bodies found. the unofficial count, more than

10,000 still missing, and for the survivors of the quake, surviving the aftermath is proving just as challenging. pour many there is no food, no water, no electricity, and temperatures dipping below zero. not even gas to make it to safety. the sirens still sound as aftershocks and more tsunami warnings bring fresh panic, and then there's this. another hydrogen explosion. this team in the number three reactor at the fukushima nuclear plant. officials say the reactor can no longer cool itself, but a leak of mass radiation is unlikely. for so many already dealing with so much it's one more reason to fear surviving the quake was just the start. we've now gotten late word about the number two reactor at that plant. it is reportedly losing new coolant. the u.s. stchlt ronald reagan

traveled through a radioactive cloud and that crew members on deck are believed to have received a month's worth of radiation in an hour. veronica. >> hmm. all right, kristen dahlgren, thank you so much. in the meantime, experts are weighing in on the potential impact at home if a disaster as devastating as the one that hit japan were had hit us. we go to tracie potts here in washington. tracie, good morning. >> good morning, everyone. there are 104 nuclear plants ms country. almost a quarter of them are built like those now under a state of emergency in jap pann. the u.s. is actually looking at building more. the nuclear regulatory commission says power plants in this country are built to with stand the most severe shock, but the government is looking at even more of these. four more many progress. 20 applications. the government announced $8 billion in loans last year for new nuclear plants. they're looking for four times that in the upcoming budget.

in light of what's going on in japan reason here on capitol hill some lawmakers want to put the brakes on those new constructions, saying this is a time to hold off or review whether or not we're sufficiently protected. others suggest that this is a bad time to make u.s. policy. veronica, you were talking about the aid that's flowing into japan right now. the white house says up to $100 million is available. they're alsoç sending in a coue of large search and rescue teams and canines, equipment, and, of course, nuclear experts to help deal with this disaster. >> tracie potts in washington. thank you. now here's a look at some other stories making news early today in america. in north dakota a fast-moving blizzard left hundreds of drivers stranded along the state's highways. officials say between 800 and 900 people were rescued from hundreds of cars after ice, snow, and 60-mile-per-hour winds combined to produce white-out conditions. tow trucks and the national guard were enlisted to help remove at least 500 abandoned

cars. in wisconsin a couple of drivers found out that they parked in the wrong spot after a massive sinkhole swallowed two cars. the 10 foot deep hole was caused by a water main break. city crews are now working to keep the hole from widening. and, finally, in pennsylvania one group of teens is using faes book to help avoid prom dress disaster. the girls are posting photos of their prom dresses on a page called "please don't buy my dress." dozens have posted pictures of their elegant gowns hoping to insure that no two dresses are alike on the biggest night of their young lives. now for a look at your national and regional weather, here's nbc meter olg bill karins for the weather channel forecast. i saw some of those dresses, and those girls probably have nothing to worry about. >> some were unique. >> that red and white one in

particular. >> let's see what's happening this morning weather-wise. antiperiod of weather in the west coast. the middle of the country has a storm to deal with in st. louis and kansas city. seattle, we've had some rain. the first front has cleared through northern california. still some rain there around sacramento. as far as the forecast today goes, this one storm system has continued to kick up the coastline in british columbia. this storm continues to fizzle out over mav mav and utah. right behind it is another storm for tonight. the radar is pretty much william a lot of showery weather, and we've even had thunderstorms in the coast. very gusty winds on the coast too. this high wind warning will expire, and we're going to get significant snow at the high elevations. the next batch of rain will come many. it's really going to target san francisco northward and through the coastline of oregon and up in the coastal washington. m northern cascades, we're talking over at least a foot at high elevations above snowquamie pass. the northwest is the problem.

that's a look at tucson today, 85 degrees, one of the warmest locations in the country. tuesday's forecast looks wet and soggy. we'll have that coming up. >> oh, no. i want some sunshine. bill, thanks.!f rrñ how the fal japan's earthquake will affect wall street. oil does a u-turn, and newly leaked documents on bank of america. plus, aliens invade the box office and capture the title of this weekend's top film. also, first for dwight howard. the bucks hit a new low. march madness is here. you're watching "early today."

>> good morning, and welcome back to "early today." here are some of your top headlines this morning. yesterday moammar gadhafi's forces took over a key rebel oil town and vowed to press eastward toward the main opposition city of benghazi.ç this as secretary of state hillary clinton arrived in paris today to meet with rebel leaders pressing for a no fly zone over the country. the white house is condemning violence in yemen and bahrain this morning urging governments in both countries to show restraint. yesterday in yemen, police fired tear gas and live rounds at anti-government protesters, wounding at least 100. in bahrain, police clash with thousands demanding the kingdom's monarchy give up power. and new zealand's prime minister has rejected a chinese request for additional compensation for parents who lost children in last month's earthquake in christchurch. china based their request on the fact that its own one child policy deepens the parents' loss.

seven chinese students are confirmed dead with over 20 still missing. and scientists say japan's earthquake on friday was so strong it moved the main island eight feet to the east and sped up the earth's rotation by 1.6 microseconds making the day just a little shorter. for more on japan's tragedy including startling interactive before and after satellite images, you can always head to the web, check out our home page on msnbc.com. now a look at one of your top health headlines. researchers say hydrocodone may be safe in smaller doses for women nursing newborns. had he found a relatively small fraction of the drug ended up in the mother's milk and said if weaker painkillers couldn't address pain, it might be acceptable for a nursing mother to take up to six five hillary-milligram tablets per day. for more information, head to the health page online at msnbc.com.

>> narrator: early today health is brought to you by vagisil. bring yourself back. given the vast extent of last week's devastating earthquake in japan, we want to go ahead and take a look at some of those numbers on wall street. the dow here in the united states opening at 12,044 after gaining 59 points on friday. the s&p added 9. the nasdaq was up 14. taking a look at overseas trading. many tokyo a rough day. then in hong kong the hang seng rose 96. given the vast extent of last week's devastating earthquake in japan, not surprisingly companies that do business there as well as nuclear related businesses look to be the most vulnerable this week on wall street. tokyo's stock markets spiraled downward today its first day back in business. the central bank has injected

15 trillion yen, $183 billion into money markets to try to defend the fragile economy. here at home, keep an eye on the nation's two biggest nuclear operators. also watch shares of comico and uranium one. edison international and pg&e which operate nuclear plants on california's earthquake-prone coast also may be in play. expect u.s. listed shares of japanese companies like auto manufacturers toyota and honda, which have shut down many of their japanese factories, to trade lower. friday major insurers and ç reinsurers with exposure in japan were down and companies like aig and ace limited could be hit again today. overnight in asian trail, oil fell sharply on investor pessimism that global economic growth will slow thanks to the disaster in japan. warren buffer et has started to spend some of berkshire hatha wie wie's cash. finally, anonymous, a hacker

group sympathetic to wikileaks plans to release emails obtained from bank of america it claims will expose corruption and fraud at the nation's biggest bank. plus a weekend of buzzer beaters in college hoops ushering in march madness. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. another rainmaker is coming on to the west coast. your regional forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." >> sports, productivity is about to go down in offices around the country this week because so many people will be filling out their ncaa brackets. here is mario solis with an early look at all your sports headlines. good morning. start filling out those brackets. pick up your upsets and let the madness begin, the field is set for the ncaa tournament. but before the 68 teams were announced, there were conference championships to be won. let's start in the big ten. top ranked ohio state keeping things rolling against penn state. the buckeyes locked up the number one seed overall in the tournament with a decisive win 71-60. it is their second straight big ten title. a classic acc championship duke

and north carolina. nolan smith leading the way for the blue devils. duke wins it 75-58, the top seed in the west. the other number one seeds are kansas in the southwest and pitt in the southeast bracket and for the first time ever, there are four playing games, played tomorrow and wednesday night. nba, the only thing uglier than this guy's hat was the way the knicks played against the pacers. dante jones pick pockets chauncey billups and up to george for the alley-oop. tyler hansbrough took a bite out of the big apple. a career high 29 points. pacers ending their skid 106-93. if that was ugly, the bucks were simply unwatchable. celtics held them to a low 56 points in boston. milwaukee scored just 9 in the first quarter, 22 in the half. the rout was on and the celtics won 87-56. dwight howard has been in the league seven seasons, but he's never won in phoenix. the magic had not won in the

desert in ten years, but all that changed yesterday. howard played just three quarters but that was enough, he had 26 and 15 boards, 111-88. and that's your look at sports on "early today." i'm mario solis. a bundle on the way for the beckhams. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus we'll show you the one thing that must happen before all of this can take place for st. patrick's day in the windy city. you're watching "early today."

welcome back. rain, wind on the coast. oregon and washington today. showery weather it continue. bring the umbrella. much of the coastal areas. california, you look dry today for the most part. san francisco should be pretty nice. l.a. at 74. phoenix really warm. tucson, too. in the mid to upper 80s. as we go to tonight into tomorrow, another storm moves on shore. this one is going to have a lot of moisture with it. notice the rain this time does make it into san francisco and into sacramento. if you are watching us on krnv news 4 reno, nevada, visit an interactive exhibit exploring some of the most mystifying objects in the universe. black holes at the fleischmamn planetarium and science center. >> love the planetarium. here's an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. one mu release plays strongly at

the box office this weekend, and the others, not so strongly. the blockbuster "battle los angeles" performed like a brock buster opening in a top spot to a strong debut of $36 million. in its second week out, the animated western spoof "rango" showed surprising strength with $23 million. the good news ended there. "red riding hood" the updated fairy tale debuted weak any in third with $14 million. then things went even worse for the animated 3-d family film "mars immediate moms" opening many fifth, way below expectations.

obviously she'll probably be beautiful just like her parents, and her big brothers will be -- >> protective, hopefully. >> a force to get through. >> i'm not bullying. this comes to us from wmaq in chicago, illinois, where one within altradition kicked off the windy city tradition of all things irish. the dyeing of the chicago river means one thing. st. paddy day is coming. thousands watch as crews dump buckets of monday toxic dye creating a bright green body of water symbolizing the city's large irish-american community. the annual spectacle goes back 50 years and is eco-friendly making chicago's decision to go green an easy one. so cool. i'm veronica dela cruz. this is your first stop of the day on your nbc station.

zoologists are hoping that it might be love at first sight. the endangered cats have arrived from two different zoos in hopes that they will breed. so far the two are being kept separated, but zoo officials plan to introduce the pair sometime next week and let the bonding begin. carnaval may be officially over, but some schools in brazil couldn't resist one last dance. rio de janeiro's top six finalists headed to the stage for a final performance. it takes place each year on the saturday following carnaval. thousands took advantage of a last chance to see the elaborate floats and dazzling costumes. and one cricket team will

ne+r cancel due to bad weather because they play on ice. the libyan snow falcons won the unofficial ice cricket world cup. they played on a frozen lake in estonia where the ice was about four inches thick. the main challenge for players in the sport that gave us baseball? well, according to one, just being able to not fall over. i don't know, bill. at that point, just strap some ice skates on your feet. >> i grew up in upstate new york where we were on ponds all winter long. four inches is not enough. three inches is the rule minimum. >> yikes. time now for an early look at some of the stories we'll follow throughout the day here on nbc. hearings are set to begin for four priests charged in connection with a sex abuse sdmajdz the archdiocese of philadelphia. if convicted they could face a maximum of 67 years in prison. richard hatch is headed back to jail for failing to refile his taxes and pay back the government.

after spending three years behind bars for tax evasion on his million dollar prize from the show "survivor". hatch is currently appearing on nbc's the celebrity apprentice. and in new york city, the alice cooper band, neil diamond and darling love will be inducted in to the rock and roll hall of fame. all day long, you can stay on top of the very latest developments in those stories and others as they break on msnbc. and tonight be sure to watch brian williams with nbc "nightly news." and, finally, here's a look at what's coming up later this morning on the "today" show. the very latest on the disaster in japan. ann curry reports live from the hard hit region of sendai, the area devastated by friday's deadly tsunami. and nate berkus and petra kvitova talk about how they escaped a deadly tsunami in 2004. now keep it on this channel for continuing local news, weather, sports and more. i'm veronica de la cruz. thanks for watching "early today," just your first stop of

the day today on your nbc station. have a terrific monday.